Caucasus

The South Caucasus fits into a triangle: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Three countries, three alphabets, three cuisines, and distances short enough to link them all in two to three weeks. Georgia almost always serves as the gateway, with Tbilisi as a base and a network of marshrutkas, the shared minibuses, reaching the whole country for a few euros.

Mountains dominate the scenery. The Greater Caucasus lines up peaks above five thousand metres in northern Georgia, around Kazbegi and Svaneti, where stone-tower villages are reached by 4x4. To the south, Armenia unrolls its cliff-top monasteries, Geghard and Tatev among them, and one of the world's oldest winemaking traditions, which Georgia also claims with its buried qvevri jars.

One planning point matters: the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan is closed, and an Azerbaijani stamp can cause difficulties in the other direction. An itinerary covering all three therefore pivots through Georgia. Entry formalities are light for European travellers, and the season runs April to October, with winter closing several mountain roads.